Kimera Automobili will take a Lancia 037 tribute to Pikes Peak in 2025

If you’re a fan of Lancia (and you absolutely should be if you’re reading TopGear.com) then you’ll probably already be aware of Kimera Automobili. And if you’re aware of Kimera, then the news that they’re building a brand-new homage to the Lancia 037 for Pikes Peak will get you very excited indeed.

The Italian firm’s first act back in 2021 was to introduce a restomodded 037 that it called the EVO37. We drove it… and loved it. It then unveiled the EVO38 – a four-wheel drive 037 with almost 600bhp and trick suspension.

And so, you’re expecting this hill climbing third car to be called the EVO39 right? Wrong. It’ll be known as the K39 because it’s not actually a restomod at all. Yep, this Pikes Peak racer will be a completely new car built around a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and powered by a twin-turbo V8 that’ll apparently have a similar architecture to the Ferrari engine that powered the Lancia LC2 endurance racer. If you weren’t excited before, please tell us you are now.

Of course, being a ground-up build Kimera can’t actually make any reference to Lancia or the 037, so it describes the K39 as “a reinterpretation of the legendary 'Silhouette' of the Martini Racing team” and “the third act of its tributes to a lost generation of iconic cars”.

Apparently, there’s been extensive work in a virtual wind tunnel to craft the bonkers aero kit that’s required for Pikes Peak, and we’re told that every single panel is made from carbon fibre. The engine will be load-bearing too, while the suspension will feature a push-rod setup at the front and rear. Oh, and Kimera is currently evaluating whether to use an F1-style KERS system with MGU-H and MGU-K units to boost the power-to-weight ratio to 1:1. Yeah, that probably means over 1,000bhp.

“The supremacy now belongs to an electric car, whose performance is not penalised by the rarefaction of the air,” reads the rather poetic Kimera press release about Pikes Peak and the Volkswagen ID.R’s overall record.

“The iconic new Silhouette will have an engine that will definitely make noise and be heard throughout its ascent.”

And don’t just think that this will be a one-off. Kimera has said that it’s working on a ‘customer version’ of the K39 with a very select few being involved in the testing and development process of the Pikes Peak car to see what they’d like on their own car and what they might perhaps want to tone down for the local track day.